After working for a few years before going to university, I have graduated at the age of 25, and will be 26 in January. Can I still become a warfare officer? Is the age limit 26 and 11 months or just 26? And assuming I was succesful how long does a typical application take from beginning to end?

Kebmo
You have to be 26 or under on the first day of the month you commence training at BRNC for War Fairy. It's 30 for engineer and 32 for logs. From initial contact to selection (AIB) can take up to 6 months approx. There are 6 entries each year into BRNC, so you can still do it.

Contact your nearest AFCO for more info, or wait around here for Ninja Stoker. The AFCO will assign you an Area Careers Liaison Officer (ACLO) who will take you through the application and selection.

From here - you must be under 26 on the first day of the month you commence training.

But, and DE, do check before posting, from Apr 2009 there will be three entries per year, roughly in line with school terms. I'm told that it's causing a bit of a log-jam right now, so anyone starting the process now can not even be certain of getting a place for Sept 09.

All of which means that the OP is a bit knackered, unless he's got an engineering degree, or wants to count/stack blankets.

As a graduate, capable of earning Â£28K as a direct entry Naval officer, the only RN alternative option for Warfare Officer is to join as a Rating (Â£13K) and apply for Warfare Officer from within the service. Typically this could take a couple of years unfortunately.

Having just checked with my Army colleagues, you can apparently join up until the age of 29 as an DE Infantry Officer.

Could someone explain what the Upper Yardman scheme is? I will go to my AFCO tomorrow and speak about my options. I think in the scheme of things if I want to be a Warfare Officer and it will take a few more years than the Army then it is might just be worth it.

The SUY scheme is to allow currently serving ratings to transfer over to a commissioned rank normally within there own source branch. You basically request for transfer, get accepted (have your papers raised), do the AIB (Admiralty Interview Board) and then potentially go off to BRNC Dartmouth to learn how to eat with a knife and fork etc.

The only draw backs for yourself are that you will need to join as a rating (Lower wagers). No definate transfer to officer, need to pass selection. The guys at the AFCO will give you a fuller briefing when you go in.

Be Aware that a lot of AFCO will close this Friday 19/12 not reopening until Monday 05/01.

Be warned, you will have extremely limited promotion opportunities as an Upper Yardman, solely due to your age. Without going into all the reg's, I suspect you will be doing very well to get to Cdr, and Lt Cdr would be your realistic limit.

Not to say there aren't lots of rewarding jobs to be done, but it's something to have in the back of your mind....

Unfortunately it is impossible to join the Army directly as an infantry officer. The best you can do is apply, get sponsorship from an infantry regiment, slog your brains out and Sandhurst, and pray you do well enough to go infantry. You could join with a view to going infantry, do gash at the Factory and end up with nothing but an offer from the RLC (God forbid ).

Obviously we're not involved in Army recruiting, so bow to the inside information of others.

My understanding was that after passing AOSB as a graduate, after the first term at Sandhurst, you state your 3 preferred choices & as stated, hope to get accepted in one of the Infantry Regiments. The final outcome is indeed uncertain from the outset - thanks for the heads-up.

Quite a complicated process. In the first term, 4 preferences are stated. A couple of weeks later, these are narrowed down to two (3 if going for Air Corps), and then you pray that you get an offer from one of them.

With regard to the age limit, a fair few Army officers sign up for the minimum of 3 years, and then leave using their credentials to get them high flying jobs. I guess that the Army just don't look for as great a return as the RN...

I applied today, the guy in the careers office told me it was a lack of ambition. The younger guys there seemed to think that it was very possible if I have what it takes and should aim to get as high a score as possible in the upcoming test to get on their radar, and if I impressed enough then I would probably be allowed to sit the AIB early in my career. I would prefer this that going into the Army when my heart is set on the Navy.
Cheers for the advice.